Gallup: More Than 3 in 10 Forgo Medical Treatment Due to Cost

(CNSNews.com) – Thirty-two percent of Americans put off medical care due to high health costs, according to a Gallup survey released Thursday.

The figure is the highest percentage ever recorded by Gallup, which began tracking the issue annually in 2001. The percentage of people reporting that they have forgone medical care due to cost has risen 19 percent since 2001, Gallup reported.

Sixty-eight percent of Americans said they had not put off medical care due to cost, Gallup found.

Among those without health insurance, 55 percent said they had put off getting medical care sometime in the past year, along with 30 percent of those with health coverage.

Gallup reported that 21 percent of Medicare and Medicaid recipients have also put off medical care due to high costs, showing that not even those receiving government entitlements are immune from the ever-increasing cost of health care.

The survey also found that 19 percent had put off medical care for a serious condition while 13 percent had put it off for a non-serious condition.

Gallup surveyed 1,015 U.S. adults from November 15-18 of 2012. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.